


Moving Onwards

by PumpkinMaryam



Series: A New Timeline [2]
Category: Back to the Future (Cartoon), Back to the Future (Movies), Back to the Future: The Game
Genre: Angst, Gen, Prequel, Two Shot, clueless dad, cute genius baby, fluffy parent stuff, if you like clueless dads learning how to dad properly you will like this, science themed lullaby, scientist dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 22:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7592650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinMaryam/pseuds/PumpkinMaryam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in October 1970, when Doc's daughter had just been born and now he's all alone, without help, to raise her. He learns how to take care of her, but his problem isn't solved as he's still gotta attend his girlfriend's funeral--which if it was up to her sister, he'd have been banned from the premises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bombs on Monday

**Author's Note:**

> I'll admit I'm kinda iffy on chapter one, but that's mostly cause my first chapters are always a bit...awkward. It's only because I don't get into the swing of writing a multi chapter fanfic til the second chapter...but nonetheless I put a lot of work into this (and I tried to make it long--sorry I couldn't get it up to 1000 words though...I promise I'll write longer stuff though!)  
> As of right now it looks like this is going to be a two-shot. Could end up being three chapters however (depends on how it works out with splitting up the outline)

Doc sighed, as he watched his infant son Jules sleep peacefully in his crib. He stroked Jules’s head gently. He reminded him so much of his daughter he hadn’t seen in so many years.

“What’s wrong Emmett?” his wife Clara asked, gently setting her hands on her husband’s shoulders.

“Just…remembering…” he sighed, turning to her and hugging her tightly.

“Do you want to tell me about it Emmett?”

Doc faintly smiled. “Alright.” He sat down with her and began to tell her.

~u~

Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown entered his garage/lab, that also was his living space, holding his newborn daughter. He sniffled and sobbed--but not too loudly as to wake his daughter--as his girlfriend, the woman who birthed her, had died from complications during birth.

He took a seat in his chair, and held her carefully--one wrong move could hurt the fragile newborn girl.

Emmett sighed, in fear, as he was clueless on the care of infants--he’d never had to deal with children younger than 5 years--and he was terrified he’d harm his daughter in some way. He looked at his sleeping daughter Kimiko, and still had a feeling maybe things could turn out okay. He cradled her in his arms, she seemed so sound--so peaceful. So unaware of the world. So unaware of the fact that she didn’t have a mother.

How Emmett wished Misako hadn’t died--he’d not have the feeling of helplessness that he felt right now.

Emmett didn’t have the right amount of funds to have been able to prepare for this child, so unfortunately he didn’t possess a crib. He figured he could just hold her while she sleeps, and if necessary sleep in the same bed as her. After all, it would be more convenient for when she starts crying in the middle of the night.

~u~

The next day, Emmett headed over to the library. Emmett had fashioned together a baby carrier, and headed off to the library to find books on caring for children. After adequately checking, he picked a few books and checked them out, and put them in his car.

He yawned, and decided to go get a coffee while he was at it. He headed into the café--which was apparently going to close in a few months--and took a seat. He ordered a coffee, but was unable to get together enough change.

“Emmett Brown!” said a voice from behind him.

Emmett felt uncomfortable, as he knew exactly who was calling his name. He slowly turned around, feeling dread.

“Umiko…” he cringed a bit.

Misako’s twin sister Umiko Ishikawa had always disapproved of his relationship with her sister, and was not amused when Misako announced she was pregnant.

Umiko looking unamused, slammed a dollar bill on the counter to pay for Emmett’s coffee, then took a seat next to him, all without the bitter look on her face even slightly changing. “We need to TALK.” She said.

“About?” he said nervously.

“About my sister’s funeral…” she trailed off, while glaring at him.

Emmett understood _fully_ that Umiko completely blamed him for Misako’s death. Emmett felt even more nervous now that funeral arrangements had been brought up.

“Yes…Um…” Emmett didn’t quite know what to say.

“You have to speak at her funeral.” She said. “But don’t get me mistaken Emmett! If my husband didn’t point out the fact that you fathered her baby I would have _forgotten_ to include you in any way in this!” she practically growled.

Emmett knew what she’d meant by “forgotten”. He frowned a bit. Maybe it was fair enough--Emmett knew that there was no way to have prevented the complications during labor that killed Misako--but he couldn’t help but feel a tad bit responsible--after all it was him who had gotten her pregnant in the first place.

Kimiko started crying then and there.

Umiko glared at her. “AND TEACH HER SOME MANNERS!” Umiko stood up and left.

Emmett frowned and took Kimiko out of the baby carrier and gently cradled her.

She stopped crying and cooed a little bit. Emmett smiled at her.

~u~

On the way home he stopped by the store.

“This much for a package of diapers?” he said with concern. He looked at his daughter sitting in the cart, then back at the diapers.

How could he afford this? He barely had the funds to buy himself a coffee just earlier. He sighed.

It felt like the world was against him.

Of course, lucky for him, he was a scientist…


	2. How To Care For an Infant/The Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doc learns how to calm his daughter. The next day is the funeral for her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fanfic is surprisingly hard to write. sorry for all the short chapters. I'll probably be in the groove by the next fanfic. (which I plan on starting today)

Emmett figured that since he was a scientist, that he could sell some of his inventions, or maybe even offer repairs for money. After all he had to get money somehow, to care for his infant daughter. He held her and stroked her black hair.

Then she started crying. Emmett panicked a little, and tried rocking her, but nothing seeming to be working.

Emmett was scared that this meant he was a failure. He gently set her down and went to look for the baby care book, and picked it up, frantically flipping through the pages to find how to care for a crying infant.

_When your newborn is crying nonstop determine why—are they hungry? Do they need a diaper change? Do they have a rash? Are there loud noises disrupting their sleep?_

Emmett knew off the bat that there were no loud noises. He also had just changed her diaper—so it wasn’t a rash OR needing a diaper change. He’d also just fed her—so it couldn’t be that she was hungry either.

_If none of these are the reason—try a lullaby. Lullabies are usually very soothing to babies._

Emmett panicked again as he didn’t know any lullabies—at least not anything that came to mind for him. Then he remembered one that his own mother used to sing to him—unfortunately not only were the words in German, but he could barely remember the words, and his German was also a little bit rusty.

He still remembered the tune, however.

Of course, seeing that Kimiko was a baby...maybe it wouldn’t matter what the words to the lullaby were…

“ _Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon,_

_Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon, Sodium, Magnesium,”_ He continued to sing the whole periodic table of elements to his daughter. By Tellurium, she’d finally stopped crying, and by Bismuth, she was fast asleep. He smiled.

At this moment, his daughter was the most precious thing to him.

~u~

The next morning was Misako’s funeral.

He took his daughter over to the venue, and noticed quite a few familiar faces. Classmates and friends of Misako and him too, family members of her, but what struck him odd was a singular woman in the back-row, wearing a black veil that obscured most of her face, the only thing about her face he could make out was that she was wearing glasses that had a very thick, chunky rim to them. She was dressed in all black.

Emmett went to the front and set his daughter down on the pew. He was the first to be giving a eulogy in her memory.

He went up to the podium and sighed a little. Everyone was staring at him, especially Umiko who was glaring daggers at him. Her husband Alphonce was sobbing, in an almost comedic way—it was genuine sobbing, it’s just it was also very... _over the top_ in appearance. Umiko turned to him and smacked him slightly with the funeral program. Alphonce sniffled a bit, and stopped crying.

“Misako was a very sweet woman, and I loved her more than anything...” he said, adding in another pained sigh. “And I just wish she could have been here to see her daughter...and to raise her with me, because without a doubt I know I could never replace her. I-I can’t do this alone...” He got very personal, very quickly. Tears started to well in his eyes, but he had enough composure still, to not cry.

However, his daughter started wailing. The woman in the back appeared to be crying too as well.

Emmett went to his daughter and started gently singing the lullaby he’d sang to her the previous night, to hopefully calm her.

She calmed down. He gently stroked her hair.

~u~

On the way home, Emmett passed a young woman with a crate full of sheep dog puppies.

“How much for one?” he asked, pulling out his wallet.

“Nothing, we just want to make sure they get a home…” the woman said

“Alright.”

One of the puppies hopped out of the crate and hopped on Emmett’s legs. He smiled down at the small puppy. He kneeled down to the puppy, and Kimiko reached for the puppy. The puppy sniffed her hand, and then got closer and licked her face, making the small baby giggle.

Emmett smiled. “I’ll take this one.” he said, picking up the puppy. “And I’ll call him…Einstein.” he said.

 


	3. Everything is Happening At Once

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doc has financial problems. Also he's depressed.

The very next day, Emmett was working on some of his inventions, whilst his daughter sat on the table, playing with the triangular drafting scale.

Emmett was scribbling down notes and humming the lullaby again. Rin crawled over and grabbed the pencil from him and started scribbling on his notes. Emmett began to panic, but then noticed she put down the pencil, and he looked, and was absolutely astounded by what he saw.

_ She corrected his math work.  _

Emmett was utterly shocked, and stared at his child, who was barely even three months old.

He picked her up and snuggled her. “My little genius.”

Emmett set her down, and from then on explained his experiments to her. She watched intently.

Emmett even teared up a little.

~u~

“Oh, Emmett.” Clara put her hand on her chest. “What happened to your daughter?” she frowned.

Doc teared up. “C-can we wait until the morning to talk about it?” he said, clearly emotionally hurt.

~u~

The next morning Doc stared at his cup of tea in anguish, and cried a little bit, letting his tears salt the ham on his plate. Doc sniffled.

Clara finished feeding Jules and set him back in his crib and walked over to Doc.

“Are you ready to tell me Emmett?” she frowned.

“Yes...well everything fell apart on her first birthday.” he sighed, adding in another sniffle.

~u~

Emmett had finished setting the table for his daughter’s first birthday party. Of course, the only guests were him, and his daughter’s aunt and uncle. Not terribly long after he’d gotten the table set up, did he hear a knock at the door and he went to answer it.

Umiko, looking bitter as ever, with her husband Alfonze, were standing outside. They entered and sat at the table, Umiko glaring at Emmett.

Emmett tugged his collar nervously, and cleared his throat even more anxiously. “So...how are...things?” he asked awkwardly.

Umiko glared.

“So...I’ll just…” He stood up, and practically ran out of the room.

He took the cake out of the cupboard, when he felt something tug his pantleg. “Einstein, no.”

“Wah” said a baby voice, and Emmett looked down and smiled. He set the cake down on the countertop, and picked up Kimiko. He stroked her hair. “How’s my little birthday girl?” he smiled.

She made a few more baby noises. She couldn’t quite form words yet. He set her down and picked the cake up and went back to the living area, and set the cake on the table. He put Kimiko in the high chair, and put her bib on.

“Emmett, we must talk. NOW.” Umiko grabbed his arm and dragged him to the backyard area, outside.

“Uh…” Emmett panicked a little inside, honestly expecting Umiko to shank him in the spleen.

“You are POOR!” she said.

“Tell me something I don’t know, Umiko” he said crossing his arms.

“How will you take care of that BURDEN of a  child Emmett!!!” she tried to seem threatening, and surprisingly was very effective, considering she was a very short woman, with a very round face. Her face contained the same angelic features that Misako had--but without any of the kindness or softness Misako had.

Emmett sighed. “Listen Umiko, my fiscal dilemma is none of your concern, and I’d appreciate if you kept your big fat behind out of my bank account”

Umiko looked furious and stomped back into the house.

Emmett came in as well, and sat down at the table and started cutting the cake, and distributing it to everyone at the table. Kimiko smushed her piece and shoved it in Emmett’s mouth.

Emmett chuckled. 

Umiko glared at the cake like it was made of poison.

“Is something wrong?” he asked

“I do not eat carbs.” she shoved the plate away. Emmett frowned and just put the cake on his plate.

Emmett sighed. Then another knock on the door.

He went over and opened the door, and two men with neatly done hair, and suits that were so starched it looked like they were wearing boxes.

Emmett felt a sense of dread. 

“I’m Maxwell Fischer Standlers and I’m with the IRS.”

“And I’m Brent Steel Richardson with the Child Protective Services of Hill Valley.”

Emmett gulped.

“It appears you have failed to pay your taxes for the past 2 years.” Standlers read from a piece of paper.

“And you have been deemed unfit to raise a child, by Hill County.” said Richardson, also reading from a document of his own, that he’d pulled out of his attache briefcase.

Both men were looking down at their separate papers, while Emmett twiddled his thumbs anxiously.

“Unless you manage to pay off all 20,000 dollars by tomorrow at noon, we will be forced to take your daughter away.”

Emmett panicked, and tried to eye around the room for inventions he could sell, or scrap parts from failed inventions, that he could sell as well.

“P-Please give me one more week” he begged.

“NO. You have to pay by tomorrow.” said Standlers.

Emmett frowned and sighed. “Then you’ll have to take her. There’s no way I’ll be able to raise 20,000 dollars by tomorrow.” he frowned.

“So be it.” said both men, as they both left at that the same time, going to their identical, government issued vehicles.

Emmett went back to the living room and picked up Kimiko and sighed. He stroked her raven hair. He was miserable at the thought the government was going to take away his child, his own flesh and blood, over a matter of money, especially when other children were starving, being abused, and neglected, yet their parents could keep them and mistreat them. Kimiko was well fed, Emmett often went without to make sure she was, he treated her well. So what does it matter that he didn’t pay his taxes for 2 years? Money to pay for a child doesn’t just come out of thin air, he would have had to choose between taxes, or feeding Kimiko.

Emmett gave another loud sigh, longer than the previous. He cradled Kimiko. His biggest concern was about who would adopt his daughter. What if they mistreated her? He was terrified of that thought.

He couldn’t stand to think about anyone hurting his daughter. Tears began to well up in his eyes, as he lightly weeped.

Kimiko looked up in concern. She made noises resembling “dada” but not quite, still very much gibberish. Emmett frowned. 

“Nothing is wrong, meine kostbare Tochter” he stroked her hair more.

He put her to bed, and stared down at her, sighing.

~u~

The next morning, Emmett made sure he spent as much time with her as possible. He played with her, and explained his experiments for the day to her. Then he sang the lullaby.

“P-plutonium” said Kimiko, speaking her very first word.

Emmett covered his hand with his mouth. “Very good” he stroked her hair, and picked her up, gently bouncing her.

She giggled. “Dada” she smiled. 

He hugged her. She snuggled close.

Then the dreaded knock at the door.

Emmett answered with a sigh, and a gulp.

He answered, and before he knew it, he’d handed his daughter over to child protective services.

The rest of that day was spent crying, for both Emmett and Kimiko.

~u~

Clara frowned. “Oh, Emmett.” she rested her hand on his shoulder, as he weeped softly. 

“A-and that’s how I lost my daughter.” he sniffled.

Clara tilted her head sympathetically.

“And I won’t ever even get to see her again before I die.” he sniffled

She frowned. “Maybe not all is lost.” Clara tried to assure Doc.

“There’s no way I’ll ever get to see her again, unless I built another time machine.”

“Why don’t you build another time machine?”

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to, Clarabelle, the proper materials won’t even be invented until 1947.” he said, sadly.

Clara frowned. “But why couldn’t you work with what you have?”

“Well...I don’t--” Doc had realization “Great scott...I have an idea for what I could do…”

 

THE END


End file.
